PROTECT YOURSELF FROM IDENTITY THEFT AND FRAUD By Christina Mae Olson, CFP®
BUT FIRST: Have you registered your gay or lesbian domestic partnership? I want to hear from Wisconsin couples who have made a conscious decision to register or not to register. Please contact me and tell my why you made the decision that you did. I will address this issue in my next column.
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the USA. Over 9 million of us have our identity stolen every year. The consequences are horrendous if someone is able to assume your identity. Your credit rating will be trashed – making it impossible for you to borrow money. Prospective employers won’t want to hire you. Insurance companies won’t want your business. It will hurt your ability to become a foster parent or adoptive parent. Anyone that does a background check or a credit check will see all sorts of red flags attached to your “history” and reputation if someone has stolen your identity. It’s just a matter of time before you or I become a victim. It takes days and often weeks or months for you to notice or suspect that something is wrong. By then it is too late to stop the theft.
Here are some of the ways a thief can steal your identity:
- Stealing your incoming or outgoing mail (do you pay bills by check via snail mail?)
- Stealing your trash (do you throw your account statements in the garbage?)
- Stealing the trash at your work or at a business you use (dumpster diving)
- Theft by clerk while shopping – copying your signature and credit card information
- Data breaches at companies that have your information
- Stolen wallets or purses
- Computer viruses
- Phishing (seemingly legitimate email offers from fraudsters trying to get your information)
- Intercepting data from insecure networks or websites while you are surfing the internet
- Overhearing, recording or hacking into phone conversations
- Impersonation - using false pretenses to get your personal information from companies that have it (financial institutions, utilities, etc.)
- Diverting your billing statements from your home to an address the thief controls through “change of address” forms
There are some simple steps you can take to thwart a would-be identity thief:
- When you order your checks – use only your first initials and last name. A thief who tries to use your checks won’t know how you sign your name – but your bank will. Have very little information pre-printed on your checks. There is no need to include license numbers or phone numbers. If you write an address or phone number for a vendor – use your work address and phone number. Never have your birth date or social security number printed on your checks.
- Write: “PHOTO ID REQUIRED” on the back of your credit cards – instead of your signature.
- If you insist on paying bills with checks by snail mail - put only the last four numbers of your credit card number on your checks. The credit card company knows your number. Do not put your outgoing bills/payments in your mailbox. Mail these at the post office. If you can – get a post office box to receive snail mail bills. Did you know that it is safer to pay bills on-line than it is to send checks through the mail?
- Place the contents of your purse/wallet on a copier and photocopy both sides of your driver’s license, credit cards, insurance cards, etc. If your purse is ever stolen you will know exactly what was in it. This will make it very easy to cancel your accounts, if you have to. Keep this photocopy with a list of all your accounts and 800 number contact information in case you have to contact them quickly.
- Keep low credit limits on your credit cards. There is no need to have 5 cards each with $15,000 limits ($75,000 available credit to a crook). You should only have one credit card and one debit card – and your credit card should have a limit that is close to what you charge on it each month.
- Check your credit report frequently. You can get one free report from each of the three reporting agencies each year: www.annualcreditreport.com. If you are checking for odd activity every three months you are likely to catch a thief. If you ever suspect your identity has been stolen – call these agencies immediately and ask to have a “fraud alert” placed on your name and social security number. Any (fraudulent) application for credit that comes will be flagged as being attached to a stolen identity.
The three credit agencies are:
- Equifax: 1-888-766-0009
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742
- Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
You can also pay to have a service protect you. NEXT ADVISOR: www.nextadvisor.com performs independent evaluations of the various fraud protection plans and has a great tool to help you decide if you want to pay for fraud protection. NEXT ADVISOR has given the following three firms their highest rating:
- Trusted ID – 1-800-234-6611 or www.trustedID.com ($7.01/month)
- LifeLock – 1-800-543-3562 or www.lifelock.com ($10/month)
- IdentityGuard – 1-800-452-2541 or www.identityguard.com ($14.99/month)
These services generally protect you from all kinds of identity theft (via mail, computer, credit card, etc.) and will pay for up to $1 million in losses if your identity is stolen. They will do all the leg work and negotiation required to clean up your credit and identity if you are ever victimized by an identity thief. Check it out – you might feel it is worth it to have this coverage.
No matter what you do – please take some sort of action to protect your identity from being stolen.
Chris Olson is a licensed financial planner with a fee-only practice. You may contact her at CMOney@centurytel.net or 608-525-9818.
If you have comments on this article, please send them to Chris at the email address above, NOT to the LGBT Newsletter.